However much I try to prepare myself to write this month’s article on classic children’s television programmes, I’m aware somebody, somewhere, is going to be upset. Ultimately, if I were to mention all the programmes that have been broadcast for the younger viewer over the years, we could be here for a very long time. Therefore, if I have missed out your favourite from all those years ago over the following pages, I apologise.

 

It’s hard to recollect what used to shut me up back when I was a wee little one, but I’d say that ‘Play School’ was one of the first that I can remember. The show ran for over two decades from 1964-1988. The highlight of which was finding out what time it was and through which window we would be looking. Through the round, square or arched window? ‘Play School’ over the years had a number of different presenters, including Brian Cant (one potato, two potato, three potato, four…), Floella Benjamin, Derek Griffiths, Fred from BFBS’ Room 785 and even one of my personal favourites, Johnny Ball, Zoe’s dad. However, let’s not forget the true stars of the show, Jemima the rag doll, Humpty (who I can recall looked a bit like BFBS’ James McDonald!) Hamble the doll, Little Ted and Big Ted. What happy days we had!

 

Remember Mr Claypole (the Medieval Jester), Miss Popov (the ghost who kept sneezing and popping off! Played by Sue Nicholls who now plays Audrey Roberts in Coronation Street), Hazel McWitch and Dobbin the Pantomime horse? All of whom contributed to make up Rentaghost. See if this brings back any memories:

 

If your mansion house needs haunting
Just call Rentaghost
We've got freaks and fools and creeps and ghouls
At Rentaghost
Hear the phantom of the opera
Sing a haunting melody
Remember what you see is not a mystery
At Rentaghost
 
Unbelievably the show ran for nearly sixty episodes from ’75 through ’84 and was created for the BBC. The jokes on the show were the lowest of the low and at least now you know where I steal my inspiration from for BFBS Radio 1’s Breakfast Show.
 

Children’s television meant that producers and directors alike, with a low budget, could put together programmes that relied purely on its audience’s ability to use their imagination, without which, most classic kiddie programmes would have fallen flat on their face. Take ‘Finger Bob’ for example; just how simple can a programme be, whilst also successful. On this basis however, those with a healthier budget, sought to bring stories to life in a number of different ways, some using real people or some using puppets. Where else but in the realm of children’s television would you expect an old baked beans tin with an upside down funnel to be transformed into a rocket which was used for regular trips to Button Moon by Mr & Mrs Spoon, their daughter Tina Teaspoon (Was she married then to have a different last name? Maybe ‘Tea’ was simply her middle name!) And her friend Egbert (an egg in an eggcup!). In one episode, they learnt about the history of blanket sky, which involved a moon monster in a flying wok! Everything was saved however thanks to a giant magnet.  For 8 years the Spoon’s family exploits continued until in 1988 they finally went into retirement. Something I never realised until now though was that the shows theme song was actually sung by Peter (Doctor Who) Davison and his wife Sandra Davison. You learn something new every day don’t you?

 

Lunch time in front of the television I can recall meant a regular dose of ‘Choc-a-block’, ‘King Rollo’, or two of my personal favourites, ‘Mr Benn’ or ‘Jamie and the Magic Torch’.

 

Mr Benn lived alone at 52 Festive Road and never went to work, or so it would seem. He just spent his time dressing in a suit and bowler hat and visiting the shopkeeper, who kept appearing “as if by magic” and from whom I can never recall Mr Benn buying anything. He’d go down the shop, grab a costume, try it on, walk out of a door in the changing room, have an adventure, come back, get changed back into his suit, say goodbye to  the shopkeeper and go home. If only life was always that simple.

 

‘Jamie and The Magic Torch’, I used to love this. Just when Jamie’s mum had thought she had tucked up her son in bed for the night and turned off the light, Jamie would then jump out of bed shine his magic light onto the floor and together with his pet dog Wordsworth, slide down the helter-skelter that magically appeared. By taking the helter-skelter ride they were transported to Cuckoo Land, a place where Wordsworth could actually talk. They were both joined by Mr Boo, Officer Gotcha, Bully Bundy and the Show Business Rabbit, Jo Jo Help, Strumpers Blunket and Nutmeg. The shows plot was simple enough, Jamie and Wordsworth would appear, something weird would happen, Jamie sorts it using his Magic Torch and then the tree would re-appear so he could go back home to bed until the next time. Remember for those of you with a fascination still for this piece of cultural history, the DVD featuring all 13 episodes from the 1st series is now available.

 

If The Vortex, Drogna’s, Arg or talking Aspidistras mean anything to you, then “Gronda Gronda”. ‘The Adventure Game’ was a classic piece of Kids TV history. The Planet of Arg was inhabited by weird looking dragon like creatures and so as to not scare their visitors they took on human form, except for one, Rango, the ruler of Arg who preferred turning himself into an Aspidistra plant or in later life, a Teapot.  Visiting teams of three had to use their skill to complete various tasks set before them successfully, before tackling the Vortex.  If successful, their reward was the return of their power supply crystals to their spaceships (normally removed in the first place by the Argonds), so they could leave. Dogran, you may also remember from the show, a weird dog like animal that always kept grumbling and took part in the maze challenge, played on a BBC Micro Computer (I used to have one of those!) and what about Rongad, the bloke that always spoke backwards? Okay, I’ll stop now.

 

One of the best Cartoon series around during the 1980’s I thought was ‘Dangermouse’. The cartoons hero was actually voiced by David Jason, as if you didn’t know anyway, and Ernest Penfold his trusty bumbling sidekick hamster assistant, voiced by comedy legend Terry Scott “Cripes, DM”. Both DM and Penfold lived in a luxury flat in a London post-box. Their orders came from Colonel K, who had a huge moustache and these orders usually involved the dastardly duo saving themselves (more often than not) and the world from some evil plan normally masterminded by Baron Silas Greenback and his henchman crow Stiletto. You may also remember Greenback’s weird looking pet, Nero, a kind of fluffy white caterpillar.  “Cor Chief!” Their adventures lasted 10 years until 1991 when both Mouse and Hamster went into early retirement, 007 watch out!

When younger, now be honest, did you ever hold up your toy sword and say the words “I have the power” A phrase you may recognise from ‘He-Man and the Masters of the Universe’. A show which took toy marketing to a new level. A child could really annoy their parents and threaten them with never shutting up until they had everything there was to buy in the entire range, which was vast. I’m glad to say I wasn’t one of the spoiled ones when growing up and as a result didn’t expect much. Nowadays, what choice do people get? A simple Nintendo system can set you back a fair amount and that’s before even buying any games. But let’s return to Prince Adam, secretly Eternia’s only weapon against the evil Skeletor or their most effective weapon anyway, He-man. Guided and advised by the Sorceress, together with the aid of his trusted friends, the cowardly Cringer who became Battle Cat when needed, Teela, Man-At-Arms, Orko and many others, he must take on not only Skeletor but also his evil hench-men, Beast Man, Evil-Lynn, Mer-man, and more, whilst Skeletor schemes to blanket Eternia in chaos, and rule over the planet. Who will win in the battle of good and evil to decide the fate of Eternia? Well, it was always He-man, but if he hadn’t it would have been a very short TV series. There was also a film produced which starred Dolph Lundgren as He-Man and also a rather young actress by the name of Courtney Cox, who you may have heard of. Isn’t it amazing what appearing in a simple Bruce Springsteen video can do to your career!

“Thunder, Thunder, Thundercats. Ho!” was another sword yielding phrase commonly used by Lion-O, leader of the ‘Thundercats’. This show in a way was similar to He-Man. The source of their main power coming from the Sword of Omens, brought with them from their home planet Thundera which had been destroyed. Lion-O’s assistants were Tygra, Cheetara, Panthro, and Wily Kat and Wily Kit, all of them residing in the Cat’s Lair, their home. Oh sorry I forgot Snarf, Lion-O’s nursemaid from when he was a young Thundercat. I remember actually buying the comics to this TV series, including the 1st one. I wonder if I’d kept them they would be worth anything now? Probably not. Anyway to cut a long story short the baddy was called Mumm-ra, every week, good vs. evil, with the Thundercats winning the day on a regular basis. Jobs a good ‘un.

A legend in the world of children’s television programmes over the years is Gerry Anderson. In late 2001 I had the opportunity and pleasure to speak to Gerry about his career and some of his popular programmes, such as ‘Captain Scarlet’ ‘Joe 90’ ‘Stingray’ and ‘Thunderbirds’. One thing that I never realised up until then was that he never wanted to work with puppets in the first place.  Gerry Anderson saw himself as a budding Steven Spielberg and therefore tried to make his programmes different and as near to live action as possible, so the financiers might turn round and offer him the chance to make some real films. Instead, they always said what great puppet programmes he made and offered him another series. I’ll be taking a closer look at Anderson’s creations in a future edition of Lifestyle.

Finally, ‘Rainbow’, starring Zippy (now DJ Zippy), George, Bungle, Geoffrey and later Rod, Jane and Freddy. School time lunches were never complete otherwise. The show was originally commissioned by the Independent Broadcasting Authority, along with a number of others, to rival America’s ‘Sesame Street’. The show in its most well known format ran for 22 years and a year previously to this. Nowadays ‘Rainbow’ remains a cultural institution and adults the world over fight to overcome the nightmares. A simple question for you? Why did Zippy, George and Bungle spend all day naked in the house and then get dressed up before going to bed? Maybe there is no answer. Zippy and the rest of the crew, well George, Bungle and Geoffrey have recently been busy, not only releasing their attempt at last years Christmas no.1, which sadly failed, but also an album. Zippy, George and Bungle are also due to host their own late night chat show later in the year. Oh how times of changed.

Unfortunately, as I mentioned at the beginning of this article, I am unable to mention all of the classic Children’s Television programmes of yester year, in fact this probably doesn’t even come close to scratching the surface. Therefore, I will continue with more classics next month and if you have any suggestions, please contact me neil.carter@bfbs.com

To allow you to continue you to relive these memories I’ve also created a special website to go along with this series www.neilcarter.net/classics.htm please check it out when you get a moment. It includes links to sites which will tell you more about all the above television programmes and last month’s classic board games.

Listen to Neil Carter on BFBS Radio 1’s Weekday Breakfast Show from 6 til 9 and check out www.neilcarter.net to get interactive.